If you are a renter and think amenities such as pools, gyms and parking spaces are enough, you are thinking too small.

Apartment owners across the country are coming up with all sorts of perks to lure prospective tenants. Gardening plots, built-in wine racks, vaulted ceilings, valet dry cleaning -- you name it, apartment owners are willing to offer it. Of course, renters get charged extra for some of these amenities, but they seem to...